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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Vietnam - French, VN firms sign deals

French
and Vietnamese companies signed two trade agreements at the France – Việt Nam
Business Forum held in HCM City yesterday to mark the visit of French President
Francois Hollande.

Drug
company Sanofi signed an agreement to extend and strengthen its partnership
with Vinapharm. The new strategic partnerships covers all locally manufactured
medicines marketed by Sanofi in Việt Nam and products exported to countries in
the Asia Pacific.

The
agreement is expected to take effect by year-end subject to government
approval.

Vinapharm
will invest in Sanofi Vietnam Shareholding Company, which owns a new, good
manufacturing practices-certified facility.

The US$75
million plant will not only produce 150 million batches of drugs per a but also
be a centre of excellence in the Asian region. It constitutes Sanofi’s largest
investment in ASEAN member countries to date.

“Sanofi
has been present in Việt Nam for more than 50 years and has achieved the number
1 position in the pharmaceutical sector,” Philippe Luscan, the company’s
executive vice president, global industrial affairs, and president in France,
said.

“This new
agreement between Sanofi and Vinapharm will expand and enable easier access to
healthcare for Vietnamese. This also reflects the strong economic and
scientific relationship between France and Việt Nam in healthcare.”

In the
livestock sector, Neovia Việt Nam and their partners Grimaud Group and Le
Boucher signed a partnership with the Animal Husbandry Association of Việt Nam
to help improve quality set up a value chain to be called “Le Pork Du Mékong”.

Amid a
strong demand for food safety and traceability, this collective and responsible
commitment will enable the development of a pork production controlled at all
levels.

More potential to come

At the
forum, delegates agreed there is huge potential for companies from the two
countries to expand co-operation, especially when a free trade agreement
between Việt Nam and EU comes into effect in 2018.

French
Minister of State for Commerce, Small-Scale Industry, Consumer Affairs and the
Social and Solidarity Economy Martine Pinville said Việt Nam has the highest
growth in the region.

Together
with Singapore, it is the most open to foreign investors, she said, promising
that France would walk hand-in-hand with Việt Nam during its development.

France
would help Việt Nam wrap up the free trade agreement with EU after which
co-operation between the two countries in many sectors like drugs, agriculture
and food would become more convenient.

Nicolas
Du Pasquier, president of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry Việt Nam,
said Việt Nam needs to revamp its banking sector as well as public services to
optimise its potential and attract investors, including from France.

He said
the country’s dynamism has been evident since it began its “đổi mới”.

With
average growth of over 6 per cent a year, a stable economy and a growing middle
class, the country needs to develop sectors like transportation, healthcare,
education, and food to have products of better quality, he said.

Nguyễn
Thanh Phong, chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said the city’s doors
are always open to French investors.

The
city’s relations with France have strengthened year after year, he said.

As of
July France had185 projects in HCM City worth $848 million.

Trade
between the city and France rose by 8.5 per cent last year to $746 million.